Messages posted by: NIC

Hi Rick,
Thanks for the information.
So sad that this lovely Shore Church has been closed especially as it had such close connections with the RN Commandos.

Yes, please keep us updated,

Thanks
Nick

Hi Vicki,

Welcome to the CVA Website and Forums.
Yes it is the place you can start to find out about your grandfather's service... :D

I'm pleased to say that we have in in the No.1 Commando Nominal Roll - that shouldn't surprise you because you obviously knew he'd served in No.1 Cdo, but actually there was never a definitive nominal roll (that we can find) of those who served as commandos.
A very small team have painstakingly compiled names from documents, records, War Diaries, books and photos to ensure that our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins etc are remembered for what they were and for what they did.

http://www.commandoveterans.org/1CommandoNomRollA-C

You will note that we don't have either his parent regiment nor his service number - do you know these at all so that I can update his entry on the nominal roll?

Here is another link which will give you a background on the history of No.1 Commando so you will know where in the World he served

http://www.commandoveterans.org/1Commando

But to find out more about his individual service, I would recommend that you apply to the MoD - the ONLY custodian of WWII Service Records - for a scan of his original, handwritten service records. These give details from enlistment through to demob and include training, postings, attachments, promotions ( and demotions, if applicable) embarkations for overseas, disembarkations , theatres of war, woundings, hospitalisations, disciplinaries and even jailings...

To apply you will need the consent of his next of kin ( one of the application forms will show you who the immediate NoK is), a copy of his death certificate and a one off fee of £30 (unless your grandmother is still with us and signs the consent - then the fee is waived).

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/711147/20180524-request_service_details_NOK_part1_v6.2.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/545060/request_for_service_details_army_application_part2_1_.pdf

I believe your grandfather passed in 1988 and so, in case you need a copy of his death certificate, I have provided another link to another gov.uk webpage.:

https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate

Now, we do have a unique collect of over 10,000 images in our Website Gallery and I'd suggest that you brows through our No.1 Commando Album to see if you can spot your grandfather - if you do, maybe you'll let us know and we can annotate the photo(s) accordingly. Please pay particular attention to the No. 1 Commando panorama photo on - click on the thumbnail to open the image, then click again to enlarge the photo...

http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/1/

Maybe you have some photos of him that you'd like to share with us and that we can upload to the Album?

Nick

Hi Nick,

I'm at work so am unable to view the You Tube footage but without seeing it and from what you've described, I think I can give you the answer...

Despite a popular misconception, up to 1942, there was no such thing as a Royal Marine Commando!

The Royal Marines can trace their origins back to 1664 but not in a Commando role - they had Infantry, Artillery, Engineers etc. but they were all Royal Marines.

In 1942, Churchill decided that the RMs were not being used to their full potential and from then it was decided to train & convert nine RM Infantry battalions to become RM Commandos to serve alongside the Army Commandos (who had been formed in 1940).

With the introduction of berets into HM Armed Forces, those RM who didn't become RM Cdos wore the Navy Blue beret (with scarlet tombstone behind their Globe & Laurel cap badge) whilst the Army Cdos & RM Cdos were issued Green Berets.

After the War, it was decreed that the Army Commandos would be disbanded and the Royal Marines would take on the Commando role - it wasn't until 1964 that the whole RM Corps was eventually converted to RM Cdos and from that date, with the exception of basic recruits & officer cadets, all RMs wore the Green Beret.

Below a transcript of two instructions regarding RM berets...

Nick

Hi,
Great photo, have you sent away for your grandfather's service records yet?
I would recommend that you do - they will tell you loads about his service ...

Nick

Hi Leighton,

I would recommend that your wife uses the forms to apply to the MoD for his service records.
She will receive a scan of the original handwritten records from enlistment to de-mob with details of his training, postings, embarkations/disembarkations, theatres of war, promotions (and demotions if applicable), woundings, hospitalisations etc.

Nick

Hi Leighton,

Welcome to the CVA Website & Forums.

You haven't given us your wife's grandfather's name but, from the vague details you have given, there is a possibility that he was a commando as it fits in with a Commando Unit
However, to find out for definite your wife does need his service record.

That you state that she needs his service number suggests to me that you may have tried looking on the online genealogy sites such as Ancestry or Forces War Records etc...
Well I hope you haven't wasted too much money using these type of sites!

The good news is that your wife can apply to the MoD - the only custodian of WWII Service Records - and doesn't need his service number, just his date of birth.
The MoD charge a one off fee of £30 and you'll need the Next of Kin's consent and a copy of his death certificate.

Here are the links to the two forms to use:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/711147/20180524-request_service_details_NOK_part1_v6.2.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/545060/request_for_service_details_army_application_part2_1_.pdf

If your wife does not have a copy of the death certificate, she can order that online too - here is a quick & easy guide...

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/images/Death%20Cert%20PDF.pdf

If you can tell us her grandfather's name I can look through the nominal rolls and see if I can find him and if there is a photo of him in uniform that may help me identify whether he was a commando or not.

Obviously we're here to help so if you have any queries or need any help please do not hesitate to ask.

Nick

Hi Brian,

Sorry, I haven't looked at your father's record in detail yet as I've been a bit busy. Hopefully I'll get on to it this week.

No point in trying Achnacarry as no records are held there whatsoever.

Nick

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the CVA Website & Forums and thanks for your query.
To be honest, our knowledge of Landing Craft and Flotillas etc. is fairly sparse as during WWII not all Royal Marines were commandos - which is where our 'expertise' rests...
In fact there were no RM Commandos until 1942 and then only some of the Royal Marine Corps was converted to become commandos.

I have done a wee bit of digging and, so far, the best I can come up with is that 811 HMLCV(P) Flotilla was one of four LCV(P) flotillas - 810-814 inclusive - which made up 'C' Squadron of HMS Robertson, a holding base for RM landing craft personnel (guns crews) and minor landing craft base, at Sandwich in Kent.

LCV(P) = Landing Craft Vehicle (and Personnel).

Nick

Hi Neils,

To be honest, before you mentioned him in your post, we had not heard anything about him.
I'm trying to track down a photo of him.

There are a few here of him hen he was in the Trucial Oman Scouts https://trucialomanscouts.smugmug.com/Military/Geordie-Dee/

Nick

Thanks Ivan & Graham - We Will Remember Them.

Nick

Hi Ivan,

Thank you for sharing that info, I have now updated his entry.
If we can find out anymore information, I'll let you know...

Is there any chance you can share the photo of him with us?

Cheers

Nick

Hi Niels

Graham Cooper has just done a bit of digging and found this:

Lt Colonel Harold Wallace Dee MBE. Known to friends as Geordie. Geordie passed away on Tuesday in the age of 87.
See link below:

http://gmic.co.uk/topic/58151-a-friend-and-veteran-passed-away/

Nick

Hi Niels,

I cannot find any reference to a Geordie Dee ever serving in No.6 Commando and he isn't mentioned on Peter Bowe's VI Commando website http://www.6commando.com/index.html.

This doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't with No.6 Cdo and if you can find evidence to show he was in No.6, I will happily add him to the Nominal Roll.

Nick

For those who aren't aware of 41 Ind Cdo RM, here is an excellent article about their activities in Korea where, under their CO, Lt Col Douglas B Drysdale, RM, DSO, MBE, the Commando served as part of a 900-man Allied Marines task force, Task Force Drysdale, winning the awe and respect of their brothers-in-arms.

http://www.koreanwaronline.com/arms/41RMCpub.htm

There is one book I have seen, but not read, "41 Independent Commando RM, Korea 1950-1952", by Lt Col Peter Thomas, RM.
Published by the RM Historical Society and illustrated throughout with several black and white photographs, chapters include:
Background and formation
Early Raids
Attachment to the First US Marine Division
The Advance to the Sea
The Sorye Dong Raid
Wonsan Harbour and Further raids
Disbandment and Conclusions
Several appendices, detailing raiding techniques, organisation of 41 (Ind) Commando, Command and Control, Roll of Honour, Honours and Awards, POW's, and more...

Nick

Brian Wilson wrote:Hi guys,
Not too sure if my updates to dad?s record got through
Brian

Hi Brian, yes, the pages of your father's service record did upload okay. And, as you correctly pointed out, there was the mention of Achnacarry and RM Commandos... :D
I will have a closer look at the records in a day or so as I'm working on a number of other records at the moment.

Nick